Insulted or outraged -- or unavailable. That's how some major religious voices responded Tuesday when the 9th Circuit Court upheld a lower court ruling that overturned California's ban on gay marriage, Proposition 8. Those who back same-sex marriage, however, were quick and gleeful in public reaction.

Start with the major religious backers of Prop 8 -- Catholic, Mormon and evangelical believers. [Read Full Story]

A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down California's ban on same-sex marriage, clearing the way for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on gay marriage as early as next year.

The 2-1 decision by a panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that limited marriage to one man and one woman, violated the U.S. Constitution. The architects of Prop. 8 have vowed to appeal.

The ruling was narrow and likely to be limited to California. [Read Full Story]

An Anchorage initiative, if it passes, will extend the city's anti-discrimination protections to gay and transgender people. The initiative leaves untouched existing law that allows religious groups and denominational institutions to give preferential treatment to people of the same faith.

"We felt it was important that if we want people to respect us in the public sector, we need to respect them in their religious arena," said Trevor Storrs, spokesman for the "One Anchorage" initiative.

The clash over the initiative, set for a vote on April 3, is already heating up as the city's more religious conservatives begin to do battle with supporters of the proposal. [Read Full Story]

On Sunday in Charlotte, the emerging campaigns around North Carolina's proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage skirmished along a three-mile front. That's the distance between two of the city's most prominent churches, both of them Baptist. Philosophically, their pastors set the poles on what could be a wrenching statewide debate.

At Myers Park Baptist, the Rev. Steve Shoemaker gave a sermon he called "The Opposite of Love." In it, he urged his congregation to vote down the amendment, calling it an affront to the Bill of Rights and the Golden Rule. [Read Full Story]